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Is  It  Worth  While? 


An  Address  Before  the  W.  M.  U.  in 
Convention,  Hot  Springs,  Ark., 
May  the  1 4th,  1 908 


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By 

MRS.  MAUD  REYNOLDS  McLURE 
Principal  of  W.  M.  U.  Trainmg’ScEo^ 


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IS  IT  WORTH  WHILE? 


An  Address  Before  The  W.  M.  U.  in 
Convention,  Hot  Springs,  Ark., 
May  14th,  1908,  by  Mrs.  Maud 
Reynolds  McLure,  Principal 
of  W.  M.  U.  Training  School. 

1  bear  a  message  of  love  and  gratitude 
to  you,  dear  sisters  of  the  Southland 
from  the  faculty  and  student-body  of 
the  Woman’s  Missionary  Union  Train¬ 
ing  School.  One  year  ago  this  institu¬ 
tion  was  launched  by  your  interest,  your 
enthusiasm,  your  prayers,  and,  through 
the  months  that  have  followed,  your 
thoughtful  care  has  been  ever  around  it, 
while  we  who  have  manned  the  barque 
have  felt  the  strength  and  uplift  of  your 
earnest  intercession  for  us  at  the  Throne 
of  Grace.  And  so  our  ship  has  sailed 
prosperously,  for  we  have  felt  that  the 
Master  was  aboard,  and  no  matter  what 
storm  should  threaten.  He  would  whis¬ 
per,  “Peace,  be  still.” 

With  the  new  problems  of  the  new 
civilization  has  come,  as  a  sign  of  re¬ 
ligious  progress,  the  belief  that  a  woman 
expecting  to  enter  any  field  of  Christian 
work,  whether  Sunday  School,  Home  or 
Foreign,  should  be  specially  equipped 
for  service.  The  blessedness  of  fitting 
our  women  to  do  their  highest  and  best 
Christian  work  was  so  strongly  laid  on 
your  hearts  that  you  have  assumed  this 
responsibility,  and  I  bring  you  the  glad 
news  that  your  efforts  are  being  re¬ 
warded,  your  prayers  are  being  answered 


— our  school  is  doing  the  work  you 
planned  it  to  accomplish. 

One  whom  I  greatly  revered,  once  said, 
“Only  living  things  grow.  Rocks  accu¬ 
mulate;  they  mechanically  increase  from 
without,  making  angular  forms.  Life,  on 
the  other  hand,  works  from  within. 
Plants,  animals  and  souls  develop  into 
organic  structure  of  rounded  forms, 
through  the  agency  of  an  internal  circu¬ 
lating  nutrition.  In  plants  this  power 
is  sap,  in  animals  it  is  blood,  and  in 
Christians,  grace.  The  favorite  figure 
under  which  God’s  people  are  spoken  of 
in  the  Bible  is  the  garden,  not  a  set  of 
tools  or  a  factory.  They  are  called  in 
Jeremiah,  ‘the  right  seed,'  a  ‘noble  vine 
and  vineyard.’  In  Isaiah  a  ‘branch  of 
God’s  planting,’  and  ‘trees  of  righteous¬ 
ness.’  Christians  must  grow  naturally, 
normally.  We  are  not  to  be  hot-house 
plants,  but  hardy  plants.’’  And  it  is 
for  this  steady,  healthy  growth  that  the 
Training  School  stands. 

As  our  first  year’s  work  is  near  com¬ 
pletion  these  vital  questions  arise,  “Has 
the  training  of  the  young  women  re¬ 
sulted  in  the  growth  we  anticipated?’’ 
“Are  the  students  really  better  fitted 
for  service  by  the  year  spent  in  the 
school?’’  These  can,  in  my  judgment,  be 
frankly  answered  in  the  affirmative,  for 
I  believe  no  woman  has  entered  the 
school,  but  will  carry  away  deep  and 
lasting  benefits  that  shall  be  trans¬ 
formed  into  blessings  for  others. 

Let  us  examine  the  practical,  intellec¬ 
tual  and  spiritual  phases  of  their  train- 


ing  and  judge  from  the  outcome  if  this 
statement  be  true,  and  if  the  thing  is 
worth  while. 

Good  results  have  come  from  the  do¬ 
mestic  science  course,  as  in  sewing,  the 
lessons  have  been  planned  in  such  a  way 
that  each  student  could  learn  the  best 
method  of  teaching  children  and  igno¬ 
rant  mothers  how  to  sew.  These  lessons 
will  be  most  valuable  for  use  in  slum  mis¬ 
sions,  in  mountain  schools,  and  in  heathen 
countries.  This  year  the  cooking  lessons 
have  included  an  invalid  diet,  that  the 
missionary  may,  in  her  house  to  house 
visiting,  be  able  to  minister  to  the 
physical  needs  of  the  sick  and  suffering, 
and  1  could  tell  sweet  stories  of  how  the 
students  have  in  this  respect ‘been  like 
angels  of  mercy. 

The  progress  made  by  the  student- 
body  in  music  has  been  creditable,  and 
many  are  now  able  to  play  the  hymns 
at  our  chapel  exercises,  and  at  the  mis¬ 
sion  Sunday  Schools.  The  interest  in 
sightsinging  has  increased,  and  1  have 
been  gratified  by  the  statement  from 
several,  that  their  first  work  done  while 
learning  the  foreign  languages  will  be 
to  translate  the  songs  for  children 
learned  in  the  school,  that  all  nations 
of  the  earth  may  sing  the  Training  School 
songs. 

Great  improvement  can  be  noted  in 
the  ability  of  each  individual  to  speak 
before  a  body  of  women,  such  improve¬ 
ment  being  largely  due  to  the  constant 
practice  of  leading  the  daily  devotions 
of  the  school,  as  well  as  to  the  lessons  in 


elocution.  Many  were  given  to  the 
habit  of  expressing  their  thoughts  in  a 
confidential  tone  so  soft  and  low  that 
only  those  nearest  could  ascertain 
whether  there  was  being  delivered  a  lec¬ 
ture  in  Sanskrit  or  a  recitation  from 
Mother  Goose.  A  year’s  elocution  has 
worked  wonders  in  these  timid  ones, 
and  I  venture  to  hope  that  when  they 
leave  the  school,  not  only  will  they  be 
able  to  make  themselves  heard,  but  that 
they  will  have  thoughts  worthy  of  ex¬ 
pression.  This  hope  is  strengthened  by 
the  very  high  commendation  accorded 
the  work  of  our  students  by  their  Pro¬ 
fessors  in  the  Southern  Baptist  Theo¬ 
logical  Seminary,  who  have,  in  the  class 
room  and  outside,  mentioned  honorably 
our  young  women.  To  dispel  any  doubt 
of  the  capacity  of  women  for  grasping 
the  difficult  studies  of  the  Seminary 
which  are  included  in  our  course,  may 
be  cited  the  fine  grades  made  by  our 
student-body  in  all  examinations.  After 
the  March  examinations  Dr.  Sampey 
(whose  subject  is  counted  one  of  the 
most  difficult  in  the  whole  curriculum) 
announced  to  his  class  that  out  of  four¬ 
teen  students  from  the  Training  School 
taking  the  examination  in  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  Interpretation,  eleven  made  grades 
from  90  to  98,  and  three  made  a  grade  of 
100.  I  have  only  to  add  that  of  one 
hundred  and  eight  men  in  the  same 
class  and  taking  the  same  examination, 
one  man  made  a  grade  of  100,  for  you 
to  see  that  the  standard  of  excellence 
among  our  women  is  high.  Further  com- 


ment  on  their  intellectual  development 
and  ability  is  unnecessary.  I  must  say 
that  a  woman  with  limited  or  poor  edu¬ 
cation  may  gain  something  from  our 
course  of  study,  but  unless  she  has  a 
really  good  grammar  school  foundation 
the  best  results  cannot  follow.  Just 
here  I  would  suggest  to  a  church  or 
association  planning  to  send  a  girl  to  the 
Training  School,  that  she  be  examined, 
and  unless  she  has  had  a  good  gram¬ 
mar,  or  “common’*  school  course,  send 
her  to  a  grammar  school  first,  and  after¬ 
wards  to  the  Training  School.  Other¬ 
wise  much  disappointment  will  follow. 

While  the  practical  and  intellectual 
sides  of  their  natures  are  developing, 
the  spiritual  side  is  not  neglected  in 
their  busy  lives,  and  one  has  only  to 
look  into  their  calm,  cheerful  faces  to 
realize  that  the  Master  is  to  them 
“Nearer  than  breathing.”  I  am  sure 
they  have  been  a  blessing  to  the  city  of 
Louisville,  for  through  them  as  they 
have  gone  in  and  out  with  their  message 
of  love  and  cheer,  tired,  discouraged 
ones  have  been  comforted,  children  have 
been  taught  the  Word  of  God  and  given 
ideals  that,  in  spite  of  their  wretched 
environment,  will,  by  God’s  blessings, 
make  strong  men  and  women  of  these 
little  ones.  Souls  have  been  won  to 
Christ  through  these  women  whose  lives 
are  surrendered  to  God,  and  who  are 
daily  giving  to  Him  fuller,  deeper 
service. 

Perhaps  1  place  too  great  emphasis 
on  the  practical  mission  work  of  the 


school,  but  after  all,  is  not  soul-winning 
the  end  to  which  the  study  and  training 
lead?  And  can  there  be  any  higher 
ambition  than  to  seek  and  to  save  the 
lost?  Every  Saturday  afternoon  is  given 
by  the  students  to  visiting  from  house 
to  house  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mission 
Sunday  Schools,  and  I  think  no  part  of 
the  week  holds  more  interest  than  the 
hours  spent  in  this  way. 

We  have  in  our  midst  a  gentle,  sweet 
woman  who  has  been  greatly  used  of 
God,  and  it  was  through  deep  sorrow 
that  she  attained  the  abundant  life  that 
is  now  hers.  Years  ago  she  was  left 
fatherless  under  a  cloud  of  special  black¬ 
ness,  its  darkness  relieved  only  by  the 
beauty  and  strength  of  the  mother’s 
Christian  character  and  courage.  Often 
when  awake  at  night,  through  the  still¬ 
ness,  the  children  would  hear  the  voice 
of  the  mother  praying  for  her  little  ones, 
so  it  is  not  surprising  that  this  girl 
early  felt  the  impression  for  mission 
work.  From  the  soil  of  this  heart  an¬ 
guish,  nurtured  and  tended  by  the 
mother’s  prayers,  grew  up  the  young 
tree  that  is  now  bearing  such  rich  fruit. 
TTiis  young  woman  hopes  to  go  to  For¬ 
eign  Fields,  but  during  her  time  of 
preparation  and  waiting,  she  has  been 
about  the  King’s  business,  for  in  Louis¬ 
ville  many  souls  have  been  led  to  Christ 
through  her,  and  to  homes  in  which  sin 
and  strife  ran  riot  she  has  brought  peace 
and  comfort.  Through  her  influence  in 
the  mission  Sunday  School  in  which  she 
is  now  working,  missionary  day  exer- 


cises  were  held,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  the  Sunday  School  a  col¬ 
lection  for  Foreign  Missions  was  taken. 
That  collection  which  was  given  by  the 
poor  of  their  poverty  amounted  to  over 
thirteen  dollars. 

In  a  recent  lecture  Dr.  Rufus  Weaver 
of  Cincinnati,  said,  “It  is  not  the  Bap¬ 
tist  Church  or  the  Methodist  Church 
that  the  Catholic  Church  fears,  but  it 
does  fear  these  women  that  are  followed 
by  the  children  in  the  streets,  and  that 
go  into  the  homes  and  steal  the  hearts  of 
the  mothers.  You  can  shut  your  door 
in  the  face  of  a  priest  or  a  preacher,  but 
you  can  not  shut  it  in  the  face  of  a 
woman  who  comes  with  love  in  her  heart 
and  flowers  in  her  hands  to  nurse  your 
sick  child,  or  to  lift  the  burden  of  care 
from  your  tired  shoulders.” 

To  carry  the  gospel  to  Catholics  so 
hedged  about  by  forms  and  supersti¬ 
tions  is  not  an  easy  task,  and  so  the 
story  of  a  Catholic  woman  brought  to 
Jesus  by  one  of  our  students  may  in¬ 
terest  you.  A  woman  of  refinement  and 
some  education  came  to  service  at  the 
Flower  Mission  last  winter,  and  was 
there  met  by  Miss  Leachman,  the  noble 
city  missionary  who  lives  in  the  Train¬ 
ing  School.  Miss  Leachman  discovered 
that  the  woman’s  husband  was  out  of 
work  and  that  she  had  five  hungry  little 
ones  at  home.  Material  aid  was  sent 
for  the  immediate  necessities  of  the  fam¬ 
ily,  and  later  one  of  the  Training  School 
girls  was  sent  to  visit  the  home.  Mrs. 
A.  was  scrubbing  the  floor  when  the 


visitor  entered,  so  that  the  first  call  was 
made  standing  in  the  hallway.  As  they 
talked  the  children  crowded  round  and 
the  mother  scolded  them,  and  sent  them 
impatiently  away.  Realizing  that  she 
had  lost  control  of  herself  before  a 
stranger,  Mrs.  A.  apologized,  but  said, 
“When  you  are  worried  like  1  am  the 
least  thing  makes  you  lose  your  temper. 
But  you  don’t  know  what  trouble  is  or 
what  it  is  to  have  five  children  go  hun¬ 
gry.”  “No,”  said  the  missionary,  “I 
don’t  know  all  your  trials,  but  1  do 
know  what  trouble  is.  Now,  when  I  am 
troubled  I  go  to  Christ  and  He  comforts 
me.  I  wonder  if  you  know  how  to  go  to 
Him?”  Mrs.  A.’s  face  clouded  and  she 
said  she  was  a  Catholic  and  didn’t  know 
just  how  to  go  to  Christ  Himself.  So, 
asking  permission,  the  missionary  read 
passages  from  the  New  Testament, 
prayed  with  her,  and  on  going  left  the 
book  with  her,  Mrs.  A.  seizing  it  eagerly 
in  both  hands.  After  a  few  visits  from 
the  missionary  this  dear  woman  had 
found  the  great  Burden  Bearer  and  had 
come  out  into  sweet  and  full  assurance 
of  salvation.  To  the  missionary  she 
seemed  a  new  woman.  All  her  life,  she 
said,  she  had  confessed  her  sins  to  the 
priest  and  prayed  to  the  Virgin  Mary 
most  earnestly,  but  had  never  found 
peace  until  she  learned  to  talk  to  Jesus, 
and  then  He  came  into  her  heart  and 
stayed  there.  She  was  in  daily  expec¬ 
tation  of  a  new  care  in  her  life — another 
little  one  in  her  arms — so  there  was  joy 
in  the  home,  when,  about  three  weeks 


after  her  conversion  the  husband  secured 
work.  All  the  week  she  went  happily 
about  her  work  praying  fervently  that 
God  would  let  her  husband  come  home 
on  Saturday  night,  sober,  for  she  felt  she 
could  not  bear  her  own  pain  if  he  should 
be  in  the  home  intoxicated.  In  telling 
the  missionary  of  it  she  said,  “1  was  sure 
God  would,  in  some  way,  put  something 
around  my  husband  to  keep  whiskey 
away  from  him,  for  you  had  told  me  He 
would  shield  me.  Then  I  remembered 
you  had  read  me  from  this  book  that 
if  1  would  abide  in  Him,  He  would  abide 
in  me  and  1  could  ask  anything  of  Him 
and  He  would  give  it  to  me.  So  1  was 
sure  my  husband  would  come  home 
sober.  Saturday  night  came,  and  when 
John  staggered  in  drunk,  1  thought 
there  was  no  use  trying  any  more,  Jesus 
would  never  hear  me.  But  1  went  and 
got  my  Bible  that  you  had  given  me, 
and  1  turned  and  turned  the  leaves, 
looking  for  the  verse  about  abiding  in 
Christ,  and  I  couldn’t  find  it.  I  knew  it 
was  there,  because  you  had  said  it  was, 
and  had  read  it  to  me.  After  awhile  I 
thought,  ‘through  all  my  life  of  Catholi¬ 
cism  and  sin  and  waywardness  Christ 
had  never  forgotten  me,  nor  ceased  to 
love  me,  and  here  I  had  only  been  serv¬ 
ing  Him  for  three  weeks  and  the  first 
thing  I  ask  Him  to  do  for  me  and  He 
doesn’t  do  it,  1  am  ready  to  go  back  on 
Him,  and  give  Him  up.’  So  1  fell  on 
my  knees  and  begged  Christ  to  forgive 
me  for  being  so  wicked  as  to  doubt  Him, 
and  if  the  drunkenness  of  my  husband 


was  the  cross  I  was  to  bear  for  Him,  to 
give  me  grace  to  bear  it.” 

The  baby  has  come,  but  otherwise  the 
conditions  of  that  home  are  unchanged, 
save  that  the  mother  has  found  a  refuge 
on  the  Rock  of  Ages,  and  this  alone  has 
changed  her  whole  life,  and  1  might  say 
her  countenance  also,  for  the  missionary 
tells  me  that  her  face  is  beautiful  in  its 
serenity. 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  many  in¬ 
stances  that  crowd  to  my  lips,  showing 
the  effective  personal  work  done  by  our 
Training  School  girls  as  they  ‘‘try  their 
armor”  in  Louisville,  but  who  can  tell 
what  God  hath  wrought  in  and  through 
their  beautiful  lives? 

As  I  live  among  them  and  catch  in¬ 
spiration  from  the  atmosphere  which 
they  create,  as  I  see  their  sacrifices, 
their  lives  of  consecration,  their  con¬ 
stant  following  of  high  ideals  of  service, 
1  can  but  believe  that,  as  the  years  go 
on,  the  students  of  the  Woman’s  Mis¬ 
sionary  Union  Training  School  will  give 
to  the  world  a  sensible  spiritual  uplift, 
and  will  girdle  the  earth  with  an  influ¬ 
ence  that  cannot  be  measured. 


